Monthly Archives: January 2010

2Timothy 3:10-15; Luke 18:10-14

Today we open a book called the Triodion. The name means “Three Odes” and refers to the form of liturgical poetry used by the Church during Great Lent. Of course, we haven’t started Great Lent yet, but the Church, in her wisdom, knows that we can’t simply take up the great fast of Lent without some kind of preparation. Therefore, the Triodion includes those weeks that precede Great Lent, with hymns and readings designed to get us mentally, physically and spiritually ready.

The Church opens the Triodion with the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee. Today, I would like to play with this metaphor in order to help illustrate how the Church is trying to prepare us. In place of the Pharisee are George Lucas and James Cameron. Taking the role of the Publican, I’d like to take a look at the saint we celebrate today, St. Xenia of Rome.

As a big science fiction fan, I grew up watching the Star Wars movies. George Lucas probably exerted more influence on my childhood than any other man save my own father, who was brave enough to take me to see the original in the theatres when I was six. As an Orthodox Christian, however, I must take issue with the way George Lucas depicts religion. In place of God, the Star Wars universe has the Force. It is, as its name suggests, a force — an energy produced by all living things. When the characters of the Star Wars movies participate in the Force, miraculous things happen — people levitate things, block laser bolts and do Jedi mind tricks. Thus we know the faithful by the amazing things that they do.

This image is what passes for an acceptable religion in Hollywood. Indeed, James Cameron’s most recent blockbuster Avatar has something quite similar. The alien heroes of the story — the Ni’va — worship an energy or life force found in nature called Eywa. As in the Star Wars movies, the faithful are discerned by their actions. The Ni’va have these ponytail-like appendages that allow them to literally plug into nature as one might plug in their keyboard to a computer.

The problem with this understanding of religion is that it is exactly the way the Pharisee understands religion. Note how the Pharisee prays:

The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ — Luke 18:11-12

His focus is not on God, but himself and how he externally demonstrates his piety. He is saying to himself, everybody can see how pious I am because I pray, I fast and I tithe unlike all those other people who are not as holy as I am. He plugs in only when he needs to feel good about himself or when he needs to advance his status. He ultimately deceives himself that he is a religious and pious man. In reality, he is a selfish hypocrite.

Religion, as depicted by George Lucas and James Cameron, is not capable of being anything other than this — a means to show off how pious we are in order to advance our own status and make ourselves feel better about ourselves. Understanding God-as-energy reduces God to an object — a thing to be used. When we need it, we can turn it on like a computer, plug in, get what we need and then turn it off. In other words, there is no need to fundamentally change who we are. We turn on God, look all pious, feel good about ourselves and then go back to being selfish again.

In today’s Epistle reading, St. Paul warns us against this kind of piety and view of religion:

Indeed, all who want to live a pious life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But wicked people and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving others and being deceived. — 2 Timothy 3:12-13

In today’s world, the religion that many of the environmentalists would like to make out of their movement and would like all of us to follow looks exactly like the religion of Star Wars, Avatar and the Pharisee. They want us to revere “Gaia” — the earth. Again, they make God into an object — a thing. When we need to look good, feel good about ourselves and advance our status, we can plug into Gaia as we do a computer. We demonstrate how pious we are by reducing our carbon footprint, recycling, using solar energy, eating less meat, etc. Not bad things to do, but in the hands of the environmentalist religion they are simply used to feel good about ourselves, look pious and advance our own egos and our own status. Once that is done, we unplug and go back to our selfish lives. If we live this way we are deceiving ourselves. It leads to a life of hypocrisy.

This was on no greater display than with the Climate Change Conference recently held in Copenhagen. Leaders from around the world, trying to advance their own status and the status of their nations, trying to look good and look pious descended upon Copenhagen flying in private jets and driving in limos. They looked horrible, because in doing so they created what they call a gigantic carbon footprint. This, by their own argument, far outweighed any good they might have accomplished at Copenhagen. They were too busy trying to look pious and trying to advance themselves to notice the hypocrisy of their own actions. They deceived themselves.

In contrast, today we celebrate St. Xenia of Rome. She was born into an aristocratic family and was rich. Her parents arranged a marriage that would advance her status and maintain her wealth. Unlike the religions depicted in Star Wars and Avatar and approved by Hollywood and those in the environmentalist movement that want to make environmentalism into a religion, St. Xenia did not understand God as an object to be used only when she thought she needed it. Rather, she understood God as a person — as someone to encounter, to come into contact with and to be in conversation with. She understood that God, in the person of Jesus Christ, took on her humanity so that He might suffer and go to the Cross and raise her up on the Third Day and ascend into heaven with her humanity in tact to sit at the right hand of the Father in glory. She understood that an encounter with the Living God demands a response. This response cannot just be, “Look at me, at how pious I am,” but, rather, a fundamental change throughout our entire life. We must orient ourselves toward God in everything that we do.

So, she looked at her parents and said, “I am sorry, I am not going to marry this man.” She ran away and became a nun. She changed her name. She was born Eusebia, but preferred to call herself Xenia. In Greek this means stranger or foreigner. She declared to the world, “I am not in this for me!” Instead, she hid her identity and served. She was ordained a Deaconess and “deacon” means servant. She spent her life oriented and focused on seeing and finding Christ in others — serving the needs of others instead of her own. She imitated Christ, who came as a slave to serve us and to go to the Cross for us.

The Publican, or tax collector — the sinner in today’s parable — understands the kind of God St. Xenia understands. He comes to God and says, “Lord have mercy on me a sinner!” — I understand that my life needs to change. St. Xenia understood this. Today, we are called to understand this. At the end of the journey that is Great Lent is Pascha — Christ crucified, buried and risen from the dead. We will encounter the Living God in the person of Jesus Christ. This encounter demands that we change the way we live — we cannot live for ourselves, we cannot live selfishly. Rather, we must diminish so that Christ can increase in our lives and in the people around us who we are called to serve.

Thus, the Church gives us this tale of caution as we enter into Great Lent. We are reminded that the fast isn’t about looking good or looking pious or even being this great Orthodox Christian. The Great Fast is about suffering so that we might see our own sins, see how necessary it is that Christ be in our life, and see how necessary it is that we change our lives. We are to understand that the whole purpose of Great Lent is to claw and fight our way to Golgotha and Christ — the center of our lives — on the Cross so that we might experience the Resurrection.

In this endeavor, we have two examples today to look towards and to inspire us in the days ahead. We have the simple tax collector — the sinner — who says, “Lord have mercy on me, a sinner!” This is a simple, easy prayer that we can say at any hour of the day. We also have St. Xenia, the stranger who dedicated her life to helping others. May we have the strength in the coming days to look at God and say, “I am a sinner. Lord have mercy.” May we have the strength to keep Him as the center of our life and our goal. May this year’s Pascha be filled with glory and resurrection. Amen.

Today, America remembers Martin Luther King Jr. We will remember him as great American. We will remember him as a great African-American. If you are like me, you’ll find a video of his amazing speech on August 28, 1963 in Washington D.C. where he declared to the world he had a dream. Like me, you might very well get goose bumps with the words, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

These words ought to remind us that Martin Luther King Jr. isn’t just an African-American or an American, he is also, more importantly, a Christian. My guess is that this fact will not be lauded by television pundits, nor emphasized in our schools. Rather, I expect it to be largely ignored, despite the fact that without Christ, MLK never would have dared to dream:

There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. — Galatians 3:28

For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” — Romans 10:12-13

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all! — Colossians 3:9-11

St. Paul reminds us that God became a human being and in so doing shared in our very nature. This nature is not exclusive, but rather is radically universal. In Christ, it is no longer possible to categorize, separate or differentiate — we all are human regardless of our backgrounds, our birth, our strengths, our weaknesses, our skin color, our language or our culture.

Without Christ, this radical equality falls apart. The obvious and objective inequalities of the world too easily rear their ugly heads and it becomes second nature to use these inequalities to justify the superiority of one class over the inferiority of another. When we accept the reality of Christ — of God Incarnate — it is finally possible to have a standard by which to say:

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

It is possible to dare to dream that we all might one day cry out, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!” Amen.

As we near the end of the season of Theophany, I would like to call attention to something that has particularly struck me this year while celebrating the Baptism of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ. Within the poetry of Orthodox hymnody is a willingness to anthropomorphize and give voice to creation. This is particularly true during Theophany:

Jordan River, do tell us, what did you see and were amazed? I saw naked Him whom none can see, and shuddered in fear. And how was I not to shudder at Him and be frightened. The Angels, when they saw Him also shuddered in awe. And heaven was Astonished, and astounded was earth. The sea recoiled along with all things both visible and invisible. For Christ appeared in the River Jordan, to sanctify the waters. — Kathisma from the Orthros of Theophany

The created world exults in its liberty, and sons of the light are they who once were darkened. Only the champion of darkness is groaning. Now let the formerly wretched inheritance of the Nations bless eagerly Him who caused this. — Katavasia Ode viii Second Canon of Theophany

Beyond the beauty of these words, there is theology at work here. The reason we give creation a voice in our hymns is best expressed by St. Leontios of Cyprus at the Seventh Ecumenical Council (arguing for the use of iconography in our worship):

Through heaven and earth and sea, through wood and stone, through all creation visible and invisible, I offer veneration to the Creator and Master and Maker of all things. For the creation does not venerate the Maker directly and by itself, but it is through me that the heavens declare the glory of God, through me the moon worships God, through me the stars glorify Him, through me the waters and showers of rain, the dews and all creation, venerate God and give Him glory.

This view is founded upon the role God gave to Adam in Genesis 2:15, “Then the Lord God took the man He formed and put him in the garden to tend and keep it.” As the only part of creation endowed with the image and likeness of God, it is our role to represent God to creation and represent creation to God. In this Adam failed, creation fell, and death and sin entered the world. This is why God sent us His Son:

The true Light has appeared and bestows illumination on all. Christ is baptized with us, even though He is above all purity; and thus He infuses sanctification into the water, which then becomes the purifying agent of our souls. What is seen belongs to earth; but what is understood transcends the heavens. By means of a bath comes salvation; by means of water comes the Spirit; by means of immersion does our ascent to God come to pass. How wonderful are Your works, O Lord! Glory to You. — Lauds from the Orthros of Theophany

Our humanity participates in the sanctification of the water in the person of Jesus Christ. He takes on our humanity so that we might be the temple of the Holy Spirit. Our activity in the world — through our prayers, our hymns, our way of life — we bring the Holy Spirit with us to sanctify the world around us. We participate as co-creators in the restoration of creation from its fallenness.

Thus, through us the Jordan river speaks, creation exults and we participate in salvation. Amen.

Ephesians 4:7-13; Matthew 4:12-17

In our liturgical cycle, today is the Sunday after Theophany, which we celebrated on January 6. Christ was baptized and, for the first time in Scripture, God explicitly reveals Himself as Trinity. Today, we witness the fruits. St. Paul informs us:

Grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it is said, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” — Eph 4:7

Paul is quoting Psalm 68, which intimately links the Baptism of Christ with Pascha, because it is the opening verses of Psalm 68 that we sing during the Paschal season:

Let God arise, and His enemies be scattered: and let those that hate Him flee before His face.

As smoke vanishes, so let them vanish, as wax melts at the presence of fire.

So shall the wicked perish at the presence of God; and let the just be glad.

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

In other words, the Church is telling us that what happened at the Baptism of Christ is really important. In the person of Jesus Christ, with the first explicit revelation of God as Trinity, our humanity fully participates in the work of the Trinity. When Christ has gone to the cross, has risen from the dead, ascended into heaven and is enthroned at the right hand of the Father, our humanity is along for the ride the whole way. The gift given to us by Christ is access to God Himself through our participation in the Holy Trinity.

We see this manifest in the liturgy at the Anaphora — the prayers surrounding the words of institution:

Take, eat, this is my Body which is broken for you for the forgiveness of sins.

Drink of it all of you; this is my Blood of the new Covenant which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.

At the beginning of the Anaphora, we hear these words:

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you.

The word I want to focus on here is “communion,” “κοινωνία” in Greek. Both the English and the Greek offer us a nuanced understanding of this word. In English, communion shares the same root as communicate. In Greek, the root of the word means “to share with someone in something.” In other words, the communion of the Holy Spirit is a means to communicate with God and to share with Him the eternal work of the Trinity, including the grace of Christ and the Love of God the Father.

The Holy Spirit is our entry point. We see this in Scripture. It is the Holy Spirit that inspires the men and women who wrote and translated Scripture. It is the Holy Spirit that descends upon Mary at the Annunciation. We say in the Creed, that Christ was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became man. It is the Holy Spirit that descends upon Christ at Theophany. It is the Holy Spirit that then leads Him into the desert for forty days to prepare for His ministry (Luke 4:1). In the Book of Acts we see the Holy Spirit come upon the Apostles and they speak in tongues (Acts 2:4). It is the Holy Spirit that gives St. Stephen the strength and the wisdom to preach at his martyrdom (Acts 6:5; 7). At the council of Jerusalem in Acts the Apostles declare that “For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us” (Acts 15:28). We are given the gift of the Holy Spirit at our baptism.

We continue to see this in the liturgy (emphasis mine):

Once again we offer to You this spiritual worship without the shedding of blood, and we ask, pray, and entreat You: send down Your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these gifts here presented.

And make this bread the precious Body of Your Christ. And that which is in this cup the precious Blood of Your Christ. Changing them by Your Holy Spirit.

So that they may be to those who partake of them for vigilance of soul, forgiveness of sins, communion of Your Holy Spirit, fulfillment of the kingdom of heaven, confidence before You, and not in judgment or condemnation.

That our loving God who has received them at His holy, heavenly, and spiritual altar as an offering of spiritual fragrance, may in return send upon us divine grace and the gift of the Holy Spirit, let us pray.

Having prayed for the unity of the faith and for the communion of the Holy Spirit, let us commit ourselves, and one another, and our whole life to Christ our God.

Christ, in condescending to be baptized in the Jordan by John, baptizes us in the Holy Spirit. In our own baptism, we have access to the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is through the Holy Spirit that we have access to the Body and Blood of Christ. It is through the Holy Spirit that we have access to the love of God the Father.

This entry point and this access is freely given, but it requires our participation. Communication demands that we take part in the conversation. Sharing in something requires that we take part. In today’s Gospel, Christ tells how to do this with the first words of His ministry:

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. — Matthew 4:17

In Greek, the word for repent used here is “Μετανοεῖτε” — change your mind! Change your purpose! Christ is telling us to change our focus from this world to Him because the Kingdom of Heaven is here and now! God is with us!

From a practical point of view, the primary way we plug into the Holy Spirit is in worship, as we can see from the prayers of the Anaphora. Worship prepares us. It softens our heart, opens our eyes and allows us to listen. It is here that we learn about who we are and what we are supposed to be. It is here where we see:

that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. — Eph 4:11-13

Every one of us has been given skills, abilities, talents, treasures and even weaknesses by God. Our task is to repent — change our purpose — and use these gifts for the glory of God. We are to find the time to use our talents and our treasures to build up His house, to make the purpose of our lives the Church. We do that first and foremost by worshipping. When we do this, we learn how to soften our hearts, to open our eyes and to listen. God will send us people to help us understand what it is that He has created us for. We need to have a soft heart, open eyes and the ability to listen so that we know when God is showing us the way. Worship allows us to encounter God in an intimate way in the person of the Holy Spirit, and through Him to our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father. This intimacy will allow us to get familiar with His ways, with what His will is for our lives. We must repent — change our purpose — and make Him the center of our life.

As You were baptized in the Jordan, O Lord, then the worship of the Trinity became manifest, for the voice of the Father bore witness to You, naming You the Beloved Son; and the Spirit, in the form of a dove, confirmed the certainty of the word. O Christ God, who appeared and illumined the world, glory to You. — Apolytikion of Theophany

This past Sunday, Brit Hume of Fox News said the following of Tiger Woods:

Reaction to Mr. Hume’s statement has resulted in a bit of an internet sensation, ranging from adulation (lauding his bravery for making such a clearly Christian statement) to vilification (questioning his journalistic integrity for proselytizing Christianity, calling him ignorant and criticizing his use of Christianity as a means to justify adultery). Mr. Hume would go on to defend his remarks on Monday, claiming he was not proselytizing, just giving advice (he was proselytizing — and what is wrong with that?) For me, however, the most striking aspect of the reaction to Mr. Hume’s comments about Tiger Woods was the stunning amount of ignorance about both Christianity and Buddhism.

As a result, I have endeavored to do a little research on the basic philosophical core of Buddhism so that I could compare and contrast them to basic Christian beliefs.

Buddhism is built upon what are called the Four Noble Truths:

Life means suffering.

The origin of suffering is attachment.

The cessation of suffering is attainable.

The path to the cessation of suffering is a gradual path of self-improvement (detailed in what is called the Eightfold Path).

Let’s take a look at each of these from a Christian perspective:

Whereas Christianity certainly acknowledges the inevitability of suffering (bad things do happen to good people), life cannot be equated with suffering. When God brought His creation out of nothing, He declared it “very good” (Genesis 1:31) — the way life was meant to be. Suffering came about because of the choice of Adam (literally humanity) to know evil — a world without God. Through this choice sin, death, decay, and suffering were introduced into creation. Thus, suffering is not the equivalent of life, but rather the result of a separation from God.

Buddhism sees our attachment to transient things — virtually everything in creation, including the self — to be the source of suffering. Because everything is finite, their loss is inevitable and suffering necessarily follows. There is a lot here that Christianity can agree with. When we place more value on creation than upon God we fall into idolatry which inevitably brings suffering because we have separated ourselves from that which is eternal — God. However, God has created us in His image and likeness (Gen 1:26-27) — we were made with an innate ability to become like God. Christ (and our relationship with Him and in Him) is the ultimate fulfillment of humanity becoming like God. In other words, Christians are free to love and have relationships with other people because in Christ these things are not destined to be finite or transient. This is exemplified by our relationships with the saints.

The cessation of suffering is certainly attainable in the Christian world-view — there will be no pain, sorrow or suffering in the Kingdom; however, suffering is and will be a part of the fallen world, even for the good, the holy and the spiritual. The reality of martyrdom exemplifies this sad truth. Our participation in Christ and the life of the Church gives us the strength to move through that suffering and to the truth and realization of the Kingdom. The martyrs are again an example of this reality.

The road to self-improvement from a Buddhist perspective and a Christian perspective can look very similar externally — both traditions emphasize humility, a respect for all life and the conquering of our passions; however, the ultimate goal and the means to that goal of these paths couldn’t be more different. For Buddhism, the state of Nirvana is attained through dispassion — disconnecting oneself from the word. In Christianity the goal is attachment — to God through Christ and His Church. The state of Nirvana is accomplished on one’s own. Christianity insists that salvation is impossible without God and that we are saved as a people, not as individuals.

Mr. Hume stated that “I don’t think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith.” It doesn’t. Buddhism offers dispassion. If something bad happens to you (despite your apparent success as a Buddhist) it is due to past lives on the wheel of life. In contrast, Christianity acknowledges that bad things happen to good people and that people not only make mistakes but we are bound to at some point or another. God refuses to stand by and watch His creation suffer, wallow in sin and die. This is why He sent His Son — to intimately show that He knows what we go through, that He forgives us our shortcomings and that we can join Him in love and eternity.

We know that even the worst of humanity is redeemable. St. Paul himself condoned the murder of St. Stephen (Acts 8:1); however, the saint most appropriate for the case of Tiger Woods is St. Mary of Egypt. A prostitute for over 40 years, she repented and went out into the desert. St. Zosimas found her there some 40 years later floating in the air while in prayer. Let us all pray that we might find the redemption of St. Mary through our own repentance and unity with Christ our God:

Having been a sinful woman,
You became through repentance a Bride of Christ.
Having attained angelic life,
You defeated demons with the weapon of the Cross;
Therefore, O most glorious Mary you are a Bride of the Kingdom! — Kontakion of St. Mary of Egypt